Editing Carpool (section)

==History==
[[File:Ride with hitler.jpg|thumb|upright|[[propaganda|A poster]] used to promote carpooling in the U.S. as a way to ration gasoline during [[World War II]]]]
Carpooling first became prominent in the United States as a [[rationing]] tactic during [[World War II]]. Ridesharing began during World War II through "car clubs" or "car-sharing clubs".<ref name="Ridesharing in North America"/> The US Office of Civilian Defense asked neighborhood councils to encourage four workers to share a ride in one car to conserve rubber for the war effort. It also created a ride sharing program called the Car Sharing Club Exchange and Self-Dispatching System. Carpooling returned in the mid-1970s due to the [[1973 oil crisis]] and the [[1979 energy crisis]]. At that time the first employee vanpools were organized at [[Chrysler]] and [[3M]].<ref>Marc Oliphant & Andrew Amey. [http://ridesharechoices.scripts.mit.edu/home/wp-content/papers/APA_TPD_Webinar_Aug2010.pdf Dynamic Ridesharing: Carpooling Meets the Information Age.] 2010.</ref>

Carpooling declined precipitously between the 1970s and the 2000s, peaking in the US in 1970 with a commute mode share of 20.4%. By 2011 it was down to 9.7%. In large part this has been attributed to the dramatic fall in gas prices (45%) during the 1980s. In the 1990s it was popular among college students, where campuses have limited parking space. Together with Prof. James Davidson from [[Harvard]], Dace Campbell, Ivan Lin and Habib Rached from [[University of Washington|Washington]], and others, began to investigate the feasibility of further development although the comprehensive technologies were not commercially available yet at the time. Their work is considered by many to be a forerunner of carpooling & ridesharing systems technology used by Garrett Camp, Travis Kalanick, Oscar Salazar and Conrad Whelan at [[Uber]].<ref>Erik Ferguson. [https://doi.org/10.1023%2FA%3A1004928012320 The rise and fall of the American carpool: 1970–1990.] Transportation 24.4. (1997)</ref><ref>[http://elizabeth5jenius.blogspot.com 5 Jenius Indonesia Yang Sukses Di Tingkat Dunia (5 Successful Indonesian Geniuses on a World Level)] 23 July 2015. Elizabeth Chen.</ref><ref name="Ridesharing in North America">Chan, Nelson D. & Susan A. Shaheen (2012) [http://tsrc.berkeley.edu/sites/tsrc.berkeley.edu/files/Ridesharing%20in%20North%20America%20Past%20%20Present%20%20and%20Future.pdf Ridesharing in North America: Past, Present, and Future.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204033306/http://tsrc.berkeley.edu/sites/tsrc.berkeley.edu/files/Ridesharing%20in%20North%20America%20Past%20%20Present%20%20and%20Future.pdf |date=4 February 2014 }} Transport Reviews 32 (1): 93–112.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-travis-kalanick-bio-2014-1 | title=All Hail the Uber Man! How Sharp-Elbowed Salesman Travis Kalanick Became Silicon Valley's Newest Star|work=Business Insider|first=Alyson|last=Shontell|date=11 January 2014|access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>

The character of carpool travel has been shifting from "[[Dagwood Bumstead]]" variety, in which each rider is picked up in sequence, to a "[[park and ride]]" variety, where all the travelers meet at a common location. Recently, however, the [[Internet]] has facilitated growth for carpooling and the commute share mode has grown to 10.7% in 2005. In 2007 with the advent of [[smart phones]] and [[GPS]], which became commercially available, John Zimmer and Logan Green, from [[Cornell University]] and [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] respectively, rediscovered and created carpooling system called Zimride, a precursor to [[Lyft]]. The popularity of the [[Internet]] and [[smart phones]] has greatly helped carpooling to expand, enabling people to offer and find rides thanks to easy-to-use and reliable online transport marketplaces. These websites are commonly used for one-off long-distance journeys with high fuel costs.<ref name=Elon /><ref name="Ridesharing in North America" /><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://venturebeat.com/2013/05/23/lyft-races-ahead-with-60m-in-funding-but-what-challenges-lie-ahead/ | title=Lyft team gets $60M more; now it must prove ride-sharing can go global| date=2013-05-23|work=VentureBeat|last=Farr|first=Christina|access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>

In Europe, long-distance car-pooling has become increasingly popular over the past years, thanks to [[BlaBlaCar]]. According to its website, {{As of|2020|lc=y}}, Blablacar counted more than 80 million<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.blablacar.com/about-us |title=About Us |access-date=1 January 2020|website=BlaBlaCar }}</ref> users, across Europe and beyond.

{{as of|March 2020}}, [[Uber]] and [[Lyft]] have suspended carpooling services in the U.S. and Canada in efforts to control the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] via [[social distancing]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/3/17/21183276/uber-uberpool-suspension-coronavirus-us-canada-carpool-pandemic|title=Uber and Lyft suspend carpooling in response to coronavirus pandemic|date=17 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/817240060/uber-lyft-halt-shared-carpool-service-in-u-s-and-canada|title=Uber, Lyft Halt Shared Carpool Service in U.S. And Canada|newspaper=NPR|date=17 March 2020|last1=Bond|first1=Shannon}}</ref>